Dewayne Dedmon

Dedmon's 2016-17 campaign found him in his biggest role to date. After spending the previous two seasons in Orlando, he made the jump to the contending Spurs and surprisingly stepped into a sizable role right away. Gaining coach Gregg Popovich's trust, Dedmon started 37 of t...

Dedmon finished with a season-high 19 points (8-14 FG, 1-1 3Pt, 2-2 FT) and a season-high 12 rebounds to go along with two assists and two blocks across 36 minutes during Monday's 110-107 loss to the Celtics.

An afterthought in former coach Jacque Vaughn's rotation, Dedmon didn't receive steady playing time until interim coach James Borrego started him 15 of the final 21 games. Concluding his second season in the league, Dedmon averaged 3.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks in 14 minutes per game over 59 contests. He converted a healthy 57 percent of his field goal attempts, a noticeable improvement from his rookie season, but only connected on 53 percent of his free-throw tries. Dedmon replaced Channing Frye in the starting lineup in March, and while healthy, averaged 1.1 blocks as a starter. The 25-year-old center held opponents to 44 percent shooting at the rim, one of the best marks in the league, and possessed a team-best 98.5 defensive rating on the league's 25th-worst defense. However, he averaged 6.0 fouls per 36 minutes, drastically reducing his playing time. With Jason Smith trading places with Kyle O'Quinn in the offseason, and the Magic replacing interim coach Borrego with Scott Skiles, Dedmon must prove himself all over again.

2014-15

Dewayne Dedmon is entering his second NBA season. During his rookie campaign - spread across three organizations and concluding in Orlando - Dedmon averaged 3.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.2 assists, 0.2 steals, and 0.7 blocks in 13 minutes per game through 31 games played. The 25-year-old center shot 46 percent from the field on 2.7 attempts and 66 percent from the free-throw line on 1.0 attempt. Dedmon spent the majority of his rookie season in the D-League and ended the regular season on a low note, starting the final six games but only converting 30 percent of his shots, a product of no longer facing second units regularly. Even with his relatively high block numbers, a rim deterrent he was not, allowing opponents to shoot 61 percent at the rim last season, second worst to Reggie Evans among non-guards with at least two chances per game. Dedmon claims to have gained eight pounds of muscle this offseason but is not on most fantasy radars as his offensive struggles and spot behind Nikola Vucevic and Kyle O'Quinn on the depth chart curtail expectations heading into the season.